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Fr. Mathias
FR. MATHIAS THELEN
Founder / President
Fr. Mathias is Co-Founder and President of Encounter Ministries. He is also the Pastor of St. Patrick Catholic Parish in Brighton.
Father is both a graduate of St. John Vianney College Seminary and of the University of St Thomas in St Paul, MN where he earned degrees in both Philosophy and Catholic Studies. He attended Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit for his graduate seminary formation and after graduation was ordained a priest on June 11, 2010 for the Diocese of Lansing.
He served several parishes before joining the faculty of Sacred Heart as a spiritual director and assistant professor of theology. In 2016, Fr. Thelen earned his Licentiate in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.) from the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He is the author of the book, Biblical Foundations for the Role of Healing in Evangelization (Wipf and Stock, 2018) and has appeared in the documentaries Fearless (2017) and Revive (2020). Fr Mathias is passionate to see the Church come alive with the fullness of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit so that the world might believe in Jesus, the Son of God.
testimony
how God brought me to the healing ministry:
It’s almost undeniable that God is working miracles of healing in evangelization today. For theologians, pastors, and evangelists some questions arise: What is the relationship between physical healing and the message of salvation? Should the church really expect God to do healings in evangelization today? Father Thelen answers these questions by examining the relationship between the preaching of the gospel and physical healing in the New Testament. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not simply a message of fact; it is a message of power that is often expressed through the working of deeds that serve as signs of the reality preached: salvation. As signs of the kingdom, healings that accompany the preaching of the gospel play an indispensable role in bringing people to faith throughout the New Testament. The result of this biblical study is a clarion call for the church to renew its faith in God’s desire and power to confirm his word through healing. As healing becomes more accepted and frequent in evangelization, a Catholic biblical and theological approach to healing as it relates to evangelization–an approach that can be different from its Protestant counterpart–is necessary. This modest book fits this need.
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Message fr. mathias
healing testimonies
Sharing testimony is to prophesy what God is going to do again. We hope you will receive inspiration and healing from what God has done in the life of others.
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speakers
Request Encounter Ministry Speakers for your upcoming event. Availability is limited:
Fr. Mathias Thelen | Patrick Reis | Joe Philip
Sarah Kaczmarek | Fr. Patrick Gonyeau